The Springboks will have a new coach after the 2023 World Cup, but what I found the most fascinating on social media debates was that Rassie Erasmus was not a preferred option to take over again.
Equally strange was the lack of appetite for 2007 World Cup winning coach Jake White. I found it bizarre that White and Erasmus weren’t the two top dogs in the pecking order. They are both World Cup-winning coaches.
On social media, the chat was that both have had their time. It was a very South African thing, especially in rugby. This country’s rugby supporters don’t believe in a second coming, regardless of the name or quality of the individual. They’d rather watch a team potentially failing based on a personal preference than invest in a decision based on results, historical achievement and on the holy grail that is the winning of the World Cup.
South Africa and New Zealand are the only two teams in the history of the competition to win the World Cup three times. They are the only two teams to win home and away. That makes them international rugby’s two greatest professional teams. Yet, in this country, the two blokes who were the strategic minds behind the World Cup wins in 2007 (White) and 2019 (Erasmus) fell so short in a public-opinion poll.
SA Rugby Magazine is officially ranked the biggest rugby digital site in the world. They did a poll that in one day had 10,000 votes on who should be the next Bok coach. When they announced the results, I am told they had 50,000 users commenting about the results the next day.
Ackermann would not necessarily be a poor choice, but why does our rugby public find it so hard to appreciate IP when it comes to rugby?
Johan Ackermann was the preferred choice. He guided the Lions to two losing Super Rugby finals, coached Gloucester and is now coaching in Japan. He has never won a major title. The Stormers’ John Dobson was the second choice, and he guided the franchise to their first ever international title in 26 years in winning last season's URC title. Erasmus, the mastermind in turning the Boks from being ranked seventh to world champions in 18 months, won the Rugby Championship, beat the All Blacks in New Zealand and oversaw the 2-1 series victory against the British and Irish Lions in 2022, was only the third choice.
SA Rugby Magazine is a platform for rugbyheads. The visitors to this site breathe rugby every hour of the day. They wanted a coach who has never won a big title, but didn’t care much for one who reinvented the Bulls, won everything in South Africa, including two Currie Cups in one calendar year, took a team to Dublin in the inaugural season of the United Rugby Championship and beat an Irish internationally-laden Leinster in the semifinals. They also didn't want the 2019 maestro.
Ackermann would not necessarily be a poor choice, but why does our rugby public find it so hard to appreciate IP when it comes to rugby? I experienced it as a rugby writer when asking why there was never a Bok reinvestment in the late Ian McIntosh after a two-year stint (1993/94) that no other rugby coach in the world could have or should have dealt with. “Mac had his time”, was the common response. Crazy stuff.
Personally, I would want Dobbo to build a dynasty with the Stormers and take the Boks for the cycle 2028 to 2031. Personally, I would want Jake to continue building the Bulls dynasty and take the national director of coaching job in 2028. But for now, I would want Rassie Erasmus to take the Boks for another four years, knowing Dobbo and Jake are owning the URC and Champions Cup with South Africa’s north and south challenge.
For the record, this is how the everyday rugby “petrolheads” voted for Jacques Nienaber’s successor. I, for one, am not as willing as them to let Rassie go to another country, and I believe Jake (Bulls) and Dobbo (Stormers) make Bok rugby stronger and a world leader,.
SA Rugby Magazine’s Bok coach poll:
Johan Ackermann, 29.26%
John Dobson, 21.78%
Rassie Erasmus, 19.36%
Mzwandile Stick, 6.15%
Franco Smith, 5.33%
Jake White, 4.91%
Johann van Graan, 3.45%
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